Shield Therapeutics, a Switzerland-based speciality pharmaceutical company, has raised €8.2 million in a Series A financing round from Inventages Venture Capital in order to help fund the late-stage development of a product for anaemia.
Heptares Therapeutics Ltd has reached an agreement with AstraZeneca Plc to explore a number of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) as possible targets for new drugs – its third discovery partnership since April.
Paion AG is set to receive $3 million from Ono Pharmaceutical Co Ltd of Japan for the start of a Japanese Phase 2 study of its short-acting sedative, remimazolam. The payment brings total milestones for the project up to $4 million.
MediGene AG has entered into a collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US to test candidate vaccines against the human papillomaviruses using an adeno-associated virus platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
BioAlliance Pharma SA has announced a change in leadership with the appointment of Judith Greciet as chief executive officer. She will succeed the company’s co-founder and chief executive, Dominique Costantini, from 29 June 2011.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new antibacterial for the treatment of diarrhoea associated with Clostridium difficile in adults 18 years and older, according to the drug’s manufacturer, Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Cancer Research UK has entered an agreement with Centella Therapeutics Inc of the US to develop a preclinical drug candidatate that is designed to be used in combination with radiotherapy and chemotherapy to treat solid tumours.
Intercell AG is recalling batch JEV09L37 its Japanese encephalitis vaccine, Ixiaro, because it is less potent than expected. At a result, the CHMP committee of the European Medicines Agency recommended revaccination with a different batch.
Evotec AG has announced the start of a strategic alliance with PsychoGenics Inc of the US to enhance its capabilities in the area of drug discovery for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Novartis said the results of two Phase-3 studies of ACZ885 (canakinumab) indicate that the human monoclonal antibody can slow attacks of severe gouty arthritis by up to 68% when compared with the standard steroid treatment (triamcinolone acetonide TA).